The Pakistan captain told
Arab News on Thursday that he is at the helm of a ‘balanced’ team, adding that
he believes that even the pace attack – which some experts are rating as
below-par – is good enough to deliver the goods in the Feb. 19-April 2
tournament.
“I don’t think that there is
any cause for concern,” Afridi said as he and his teammates prepared to leave
for Dhaka where they will feature in a couple of warm-up games against hosts
Bangladesh and England before reaching Sri Lanka for their World Cup games.
“Our team is shaping up well
and the boys are all highly motivated to give their best in the World Cup,” he
stressed.
Pakistan will go into the
World Cup after a morale-boosting series triumph over New Zealand earlier this
month.
But in spite of the good
results, most experts are not even counting Pakistan among the top five title
contenders.
One of the many reasons why Pakistan
will begin as one of the tournament’s underdogs is their pace battery.
Pakistan lost Mohammad Aamer,
one of the world’s most lethal fast bowlers, as the youngster was thrown out of
the game for playing a role in a ‘spot fixing’ scandal.
The Greenshirts brought back
left-arm pacer Sohail Tanvir from international wilderness and included him in
their 15-man squad for the World Cup. But on Wednesday, they were forced to
drop him from the touring party because of fitness problems. Uncapped pacer
Junaid Khan was picked as Tanvir’s replacement.
An aging Shoaib Akhtar is at
the helm of Pakistan’s pace attack that includes Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz and Abdul
Razzaq.
Akhtar is in the twilight of
his international career while Gul has had more than his fair share of fitness
problems in recent years.
But Afridi is confident that
they will fire in the World Cup.
“Let me tell you that Shoaib
Akhtar is working really, really hard because he wants to be at his best in the
World Cup,” said the flamboyant all rounder. “In terms of fitness, Shoaib may
be a bit down but he is totally committed and is improving day by day. I won’t
be surprised if he is back at his brilliant best at the World Cup.” Afridi was
also all praise for Umar Gul, saying that the lanky pacer will be one of his
key men in the World Cup.
“Gul is a valuable player. He
is a match winner,” he said.
In fact Afridi is confident
that each of his players can be a match winner on his day.
“I have complete confidence
in my boys because each and every one of them is a match-winner. They need to
click and I’m sure they will do that in the World Cup.”
On Tanvir’s last minute
exclusion, Afridi said that the player didn’t have enough time to recover ahead
of the World Cup. “He (Tanvir) wasn’t fully fit and we could have gambled on
him for an important event like the World Cup.” The skipper hoped that rookie
youngster Junaid Khan will make his presence felt in the World Cup.
Afridi, 30, said that his
team will be banking on complete support from their compatriots back home.
“The support we get from our
fans gives us strength and confidence.
It’s the prayers of our
people that can help us beat any team, any day.” Pakistan will play all their
Pool A matches in Sri Lanka, will begin their title campaign with a game against
minnows Kenya on Feb. 23 in Hambantota.
